words of encouragement

I'm happy to note that in the July issue of Locus, critic and editor Rich Horton gave both "Philippine Speculative Fiction IV" and "A Time for Dragons" thumbs up.

This is fantastic news and a tremendous boost to the local spec fic community, as multiple authors from both anthos were cited. Congratulations to all the contributors (remember that the strength of an antho is derived from the quality of the stories therein)! It's encouraging to know that stories we write are competitive in terms of theme, quality, writing and imagination with what our comrades-in-letters outside the Philippines produce. And I'm doubly proud of Vin Simbulan's editorial debut!

If you're abroad and want a copy of either or both books, email me and we'll work something out.

Thanks to Rich for his kind words and to Charles for getting the word out.

Oh, there's also a Publishers Weekly review of "The Apex Book of World SF", edited by Lavie Tidhar, where a story of mine appears in.

psf iv launch vid

A video of the Philippine Speculative Fiction IV launch can be found over at the Inquirer.net.

Thanks to Leo and Alex!

spec fic iv launch

Don't forget!

Philippine Speculative Fiction IV Book Launch
5:30 PM U-View Theater, Fully Booked High Street

See you there! Jai Ho!

philippine speculative fiction IV

Philippine Speculative Fiction IV
Edited by Dean Francis Alfar & Nikki Alfar

Book launch: February 28, 2009 - 5:30PM
U-View Theater, Fully Booked High Street
Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City

You are invited, of course :)

psf 4 publication and launch moved to feb 09

Due to timing, scheduling and production issues, Philippine Speculative Fiction IV's publication is moved to February 2009.

For the past three years, we've managed to get the annual out in December, but this year we simply aren't able to. I'd rather we delay a bit to ensure a quality publication than put out something subpar.

I'm unhappy with this, of course (the structured/scheduling especially so), but them's da breaks.

And now, back to the grind.

philippine speculative fiction IV table of contents

Nikki and I went through multiple readings of all the submissions (read everything, step away, read again after several days, discuss, read again, step away, read again, short list, wrestle with each other, finalize list - plus one last re-reading and discussion session, which resulted in two stories going by the wayside and another, whose virtues shone after rereading, coming in).

And what we have this year is a beauty.

Some stats for Philippine Speculative Fiction IV:

24 original stories (which means all stories were not previously published anywhere, making this volume an all-original anthology)
-- 12 stories by women
-- 12 stories by men

17 authors not previously published in any of the older volumes of the Philippine Speculative Fiction annuals (this makes me very very happy, as fresh voices and perspectives help describe and map the spec fic topography/space better, in addition to the 7 great stories by returning authors)

We've sent out the letters of acceptance and regret - and thank everyone who submitted. We appreciate all the writing done and the stories told, but could not include all submissions (close to a hundred).

Here's the TOC (not the final sequence, this is alphabetical by story title) for Philippine Speculative Fiction IV:

A League of Champions by Ronald Cruz
A Retrospective on Diseases for Sale by Charles Tan
All We Need is Five Meals a Day by Jose Elvin Bueno
Beats by Kenneth Yu
Breaking the Spell by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz
Breathing Space by Maryanne Moll
Dino's Awesome Adventure by Carljoe Javier
Dreams of the Iron Giant by Joseph Nacino
First of the Gang to Die by Paolo Jose Cruz
From Abecediarya by Adam David
Haya Makes A HUG by Erica Gonzales
Hopscotch by Anne Lagamayo
Mang Marcing and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Vincent Simbulan
Parallel by Eliza Victoria
Press Release by Leo Magno
Revenge of the Tiktaks by Noel Tio
Sky Blue by Celestine Trinidad
The Dance of the Storm by Isabel Yap
The Day That Frances, The Copywriter, Became God by Monique Francisco
The Maiden's Song by Kathleen Aton-Osias
The Paranoid Style by Sharmaine Galve
The Rooftops of Manila by Crystal Gail Shangkuan Koo
The Secret Origin of Spin-Man by Andrew Drilon
The Sewing Project by Apol Lejano-Massebieau

Our next step is copy editing and house style formatting, cover design, book design and layout, final art, prepping the package for delivery to the printer, printing, (whew!) and then...

The book launch is scheduled for December 13, 2008, 5:30PM at the U-View Theater of Fully Booked (main branch) over at Bonifacio High Street, The Fort, Taguig City. Everyone is invited (be warned though, we tend to fun at our launches).

Again, many thanks to all who submitted and kudos to the contributors. Here's to another year of pinoy spec fic!

words of wonder

It's two in the morning and I've just finished downloading the last huge batch of submissions for the upcoming Philippine Speculative Fiction IV anthology. The hour before midnight was crazy, with over 20 stories coming in. You folks really love beating the deadline - but what matters to me is that your stories are in.

From my initial scans (as I reformatted every submission into my and Nikki's preferred reading format - which, for the curious, is Book Antiqua, font size 8, landscape, two columns), we have a very interesting crop of stories this year from all over the country and three continents. A great number comes from new authors (I am always delighted to read stories from people I'm not familiar with - it is every editors dream to "discover" a fantastic new voice), with subs from familiar names as well (who are all upping their game, it seems).

So Nikki and I have our work cut out for us. We will read each and every one - yes, even the too-longs and the too-shorts - and experience the texts as readers first. We'll shortlist and wrestle later. For now, the name of the game is reading pleasure (this is my favorite part of the process). Those that move us, shake us, entertain us, engage us, make us think or tickle our poetics are a step closer to being part of the antho we love to put together.

Thank you to everyone who submitted, for your words of wonder and horror and welcome speculations.

Now to get some sleep - I have a panel at the Book Fair in a few hours.

open call for submissions - philippine speculative fiction IV

(repost)

It's hard to believe, but it's that time of year again (even harder to believe that this is our 4th year)!

Nikki Alfar and I are now accepting submissions of short fiction pieces for consideration for the anthology "Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol.4".

Speculative fiction is the literature of wonder that spans the genres of fantasy, science fiction, horror and magic realism or falls into the cracks in-between.

1. Only works of speculative fiction will be considered for publication. As works of the imagination, the theme is open and free.

2. Stories must cater to an adult sensibility. However, if you have a Young Adult story that is particularly well-written, send it in.

3. Stories must be written in English.

4. Stories must be authored by Filipinos or those of Philippine ancestry.

5. Preference will be given to original unpublished stories, but previously published stories will also be considered. In the case of previously published material, kindly include the title of the publishing entity and the publication date. Kindly state also in your cover letter that you have the permission, if necessary, from the original publishing entity to republish your work.

6. First time authors are welcome to submit. In the first three volumes, there was a good mix of established and new authors. Good stories trump literary credentials anytime.

7. No multiple submissions. Each author may submit only one story for consideration.

8. Each story’s word count must be no fewer than 1,500 words and no more than 7,500 words.

9. All submissions must be in Rich Text Format (.rtf – save the document as .rft on your word processor) and attached to an email to this address: dean@kestrelddm.com. Submissions received in any other format will be deleted, unread.

10. The subject of your email must read: PSF4 Submission: (title) (word count); where (title) is replaced by the title of your short story, without the parentheses, and (word count) is the word count of your story, without the parentheses. For example - PSF4 Submission: Magdalena Brings Fire 3500.

11. All submissions must be accompanied by a cover letter that includes your name, brief bio, contact information, previous publications (if any). Introduce yourself.

12. Deadline for submissions is September 15, 2008. After that date, final choices will be made and letters of acceptance or regret sent out via email.

13. Target publishing date is December 2008/January 2009.

14. Compensation for selected stories will be 2 contributor’s copies of the published anthology as well as a share in aggregrate royalties.

Kindly help spread the word. Feel free to cut and paste or link to this on your blogs or e-groups.

Thanks,Dean Francis Alfar & Nikki Alfar

http://deanalfar.blogspot.com
http://deanalfar.multiply.com
http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1082268872

open call for submissions - philippine speculative fiction IV

It's hard to believe, but it's that time of year again (even harder to believe that this is our 4th year)!

Nikki Alfar and I are now accepting submissions of short fiction pieces for consideration for the anthology "Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol.4".

Speculative fiction is the literature of wonder that spans the genres of fantasy, science fiction, horror and magic realism or falls into the cracks in-between.

1. Only works of speculative fiction will be considered for publication. As works of the imagination, the theme is open and free.

2. Stories must cater to an adult sensibility. However, if you have a Young Adult story that is particularly well-written, send it in.

3. Stories must be written in English.

4. Stories must be authored by Filipinos or those of Philippine ancestry.

5. Preference will be given to original unpublished stories, but previously published stories will also be considered. In the case of previously published material, kindly include the title of the publishing entity and the publication date. Kindly state also in your cover letter that you have the permission, if necessary, from the original publishing entity to republish your work.

6. First time authors are welcome to submit. In the first three volumes, there was a good mix of established and new authors. Good stories trump literary credentials anytime.

7. No multiple submissions. Each author may submit only one story for consideration.

8. Each story’s word count must be no fewer than 1,500 words and no more than 7,500 words.

9. All submissions must be in Rich Text Format (.rtf – save the document as .rft on your word processor) and attached to an email to this address: dean@kestrelddm.com. Submissions received in any other format will be deleted, unread.

10. The subject of your email must read: PSF4 Submission: (title) (word count); where (title) is replaced by the title of your short story, without the parentheses, and (word count) is the word count of your story, without the parentheses. For example - PSF4 Submission: Magdalena Brings Fire 3500.

11. All submissions must be accompanied by a cover letter that includes your name, brief bio, contact information, previous publications (if any). Introduce yourself.

12. Deadline for submissions is September 15, 2008. After that date, final choices will be made and letters of acceptance or regret sent out via email.

13. Target publishing date is December 2008/January 2009.

14. Compensation for selected stories will be 2 contributor’s copies of the published anthology as well as a share in aggregrate royalties.

Kindly help spread the word. Feel free to cut and paste or link to this on your blogs or e-groups.

Thanks,Dean Francis Alfar & Nikki Alfar
http://deanalfar.blogspot.com
http://deanalfar.multiply.com